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Government Productivity Essay

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1.) Productivity is defined as the relationship between resources used and results achieved¹. Improvement in this area means either obtaining more and better program output from a given level of resources or using fewer resources to maintain or improve a certain level of output. The federal government has a vital stake in improving the productivity of state and local governments for two primary reasons: (1) the national economy is strengthened as a result of improvements in the productivity and fiscal prospects of this key sector; and (2) the effectiveness and efficiency of the multitude of federal grant and regulatory programs using state and local governments to implement federal policies are directly related to the management capacity …show more content…

According to Public Administration in America there are two useful ways to asses the productivity: (1) programs in which output is more easily measurable or quantifiable such as the unit-cost measurement of productivity (the upkeep of park facilities, pothole repair, etc.); and (2) concerns programs or functions in which output is harder to measure like provision of police, fire protection, or administration of federal unemployment of public assistance programs³. There is the need to stress improving organizational and processing procedures. This can be done by the use of technology such as e-gov and management information systems. Also, computer and software applications can make a difference in large education systems, unemployment compensation, retraining, welfare-to-work, and monitoring capital construction programs. The importance to maintain and improve productivity of our government programs. It is very important that we improve productivity of government programs. In this economy we need to be able to cut costs wherever possible, this enables us to do so. It also would limit the amount of involvement and confusion it would bring if we don't improve them. The efficiency as we improve will also be developed.

2.) The new Department of Homeland Security combined 22 agencies and more than 200,000 employees. It is amazing that the Department's leadership thought that we needed to make an enormous bureaucracy to meet our homeland security needs! How

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